Sleep Disorders Center at Long Beach Medical Center – Helping You Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Deborah Howell: This is the weekly dose of wellness brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. Here's Deborah Howell. Well, hello and welcome to the show. You're listening to A Weekly Dose of Wellness brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. I'm Deborah Howell, and today's guest is Tamara Godfrey, a registered polysomnography and sleep technologist who serves as the clinical operations manager of the Sleep Disorder Center at Long Beach Memorial, bringing more than 27 years of experience in the medical field and 13 years experience in sleep disorders. Tamara specializes in clinical research, probably some Nia Graphy or PSG and narcolepsy studies. Welcome, Tamara. The topic today is sleep disorders and there are so many of them. So let's get right into it. What are some of the most common types of sleep disorders?

Tamara Godfrey: Most people can identify insomnia as a sleep disorder. also narcolepsy, the disorder of sleep attacks. There are also sleep disorders that involve your limbs like restless legs and periodic limb movement disorder. And then there are parasomnia like, bedwetting, sleepwalking, sleep eating, unusual things you do while you're asleep. Ah, one of the significant parasomnia is called REM behavior disorder. And that's where people can act out their dreams and punch and hit and hurt people.

Deborah Howell: Right? Not so good. And, of course, sleepwalking as well.

Tamara Godfrey: Yes.

Deborah Howell: Is that a real thing?

Tamara Godfrey: It is. That's a that's a parasomnia. Anything that a person does while they're sleeping. that they shouldn't be doing is a parasomnia, and it's a sleep disorder.

Deborah Howell: Okay. Tell me a little bit more about narcolepsy. You hear that word sort of thrown around in sitcoms and, you know, other things about let's get the real clinical definition of it.

Tamara Godfrey: Well, narcolepsy is a neurological disorder, and the brain can't regulate your sleep wake cycles in a normal way. Symptoms of that can be feeling really excessively sleepy during the day. the TV likes to movie like to highlight it because they can turn it into something really funny. Where a person has a sleep attack and falls asleep while they're bowling or driving. But that's really something that can happen. And cataplexy is a sudden muscle weakness or lack of muscle tone. And it's usually triggered by an emotional response. The person's laughing or they're surprised or angry and they just they just drop off to sleep.

Deborah Howell: Wow. That's just got to be so I mean, not only uncomfortable but embarrassing. And, you know, the ramifications are endless. Dangerous as well. Of course, if you're driving.

Tamara Godfrey: It's extremely dangerous. And it's also scary. They have a bizarre hallucinations during the time they're falling asleep. They can be paralyzed for even a few minutes and they're aware of it. So yeah. And narcolepsy is a significant sleep disorder.

Deborah Howell: Okay. Another one that's really common of course is sleep apnea. And if you could tell us a little bit more about the risk factors for sleep apnea, that'd be great.

Tamara Godfrey: Well, sleep apnea is a really serious sleep disorder, and it can shorten our lifespan. we know more than, 18 million Americans have it, and, this is the one where your breathing is briefly but repeatedly disrupted while you're sleeping. And so, this happens because the muscles in the back of the throat relax too much, and they can't hold the airway open. And most people have no idea this is happening. Um, it's usually discovered by a bed partner or a roommate. And, according to the National Sleep Foundation for risk factors, they occur in all age groups, both sexes. there are a number of factors that increase your risk. Having a small upper airway, a large tongue, being overweight, having a recessed chin, a small jaw, a large overbite. So some of this is anatomical. A large neck size, um like everything, if we're over 40, we seem to have more propensity to get this. And ethnicity can play a factor. African Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics tend to have sleep apnea. And it also could run in some families. So it's a there's a genetic basis there.

Deborah Howell: All right. So what should I do if I think I may have a sleep disorder. When is it a good time to call my doctor?

Tamara Godfrey: Well, you should, call your doctor right away if you're having symptoms of sleep apnea. Because sleep apnea is, is it can be life threatening. It can lead to heart attack and stroke. With parasomnia, definitely, as soon as someone tells you your behavior is dangerous, you should seek immediate help. And when with insomnia, there are actually a lot of tips for insomnia right on the web.

Deborah Howell: Oh, let's get that, web address. If you could.

Tamara Godfrey: You know what, it's the National Sleep Foundation website. I think you.

Deborah Howell: Can Google that.

Tamara Godfrey: National Sleep Foundation.

Deborah Howell: Okay. Everybody google, “National Sleep Foundation”. Here we go. Okay. Now let's get into the things that, we're where we're helping people with these disorders. And what happens during a sleep test for example.

Tamara Godfrey: A sleep study is pretty unique. We wire you up from head to toe and monitor your behaviors. We look at your breathing and your vital signs. And it's actually like spending a night in a hotel with weird wires attached to you.

Deborah Howell: And everybody watching.

Tamara Godfrey: That, too. Uh, it does not hurt. We don't use needles or things that that hurt you, and you get to sleep through it. Most people tell me there's no way I can sleep in a sleep center with someone watching me ...

Deborah Howell: That is exact, you know, the question I have is, how long does it usually take people to finally fall asleep?

Tamara Godfrey: You know, people can take a while to fall asleep, but, I've been watching people sleep for about 16 years now, and only 2 in 16 years people have not fallen asleep so sleep usually wins.

Deborah Howell: Wow. And you, of course, can't drug them. It has to be a naturally induced sleep, correct?

Tamara Godfrey: You know what, if a person normally takes sleep meds or if their physician feels that they're anxious and need a sleep pill, it will not throw the study. So many people do take a sleep aid at the sleep center.

Deborah Howell: Interesting. Okay? Because I, you know, I don't think I'm normal. I'm thinking, oh, man, it would take me hours and hours and hours with people watching me, and I'll hooked up and not in my own bed and ...

Tamara Godfrey: But if you haven't done the type of study, you know that if you were coming with insomnia, we probably wouldn't give you a sleep aid, because that would that would, you know, skew that insomnia thing. We'd want to see how long does it take you? But for sleep apnea and other things like that, it's okay.

Deborah Howell: Okay. Now it's getting into, the equipment for sleeping. We're talking about the CPAP mask. It's dreaded in many cases and maybe you can address the stigma about that.

Tamara Godfrey: Yeah. Let me explain quickly what CPAP is. it's the treatment for apnea, and it holds the airway open like an air splint. It stands for continual positive air pressure. And it's not giving you oxygen. Just opens your airway. And the stigma is, you know, I look like a somebody wearing a, weird mask, and it makes me unattractive. The majority of people do get used to the CPAP, and most of us have, bed partners and spouses who would rather us live longer than look, look beautiful at night, hopefully. But, there is a stigma to it. And there's also a thing where people just hate to wear it, you know, they feel like it's uncomfortable. So, you know, for the most part, people who get some just specialized attention from sleep professionals can get over these things. We can help them find the right mask, one that's comfortable. And generally over 2 to 12 weeks, somebody is able to wear that thing.

Deborah Howell: And then do they need to wear it the rest of their lives, or is there a period where they they're so comfortable sleeping that things have improved? Or maybe they've lost a little weight and things have changed, or ...

Tamara Godfrey: You hit one on the, on the head. If a person has weight related sleep apnea, which is a thing, and they lose all of their weight, they can, get rid of it if they have one of those anatomical or, you know, genetic, all kinds of apnea. They're looking at wearing CPAP, for the rest of their life. It's similar to wearing a pair of glasses. When you put those glasses on, it's treating. But when you take off, you can't see. Same thing with CPAP. Take it off and you're going to stop breathing.

Deborah Howell: Okay. Can I do a sleep test at home?

Tamara Godfrey: Yes. in fact, now, most and many, I should say insurance companies are requiring home sleep testing for the apnea screening. It's convenient. Yeah, it's cost effective. It's a great way to diagnose sleep apnea. We do them, and a patient just picks up a small unit. They take it home, wear it overnight and bring it back the next day. And there it is. But there is, I should say, a certain patient population that can't have one. These people have certain medical conditions that would need some monitoring overnight.

Deborah Howell: Okay. So we need to go to the pros and and speaking of the pros, after I visit the sleep disorder center at Long Beach Memorial and receive a diagnosis, how am I sleep order sleep disorder, be treated?

Tamara Godfrey: Depending on the disorder, the the physician is going to give a recommendation on your report. If it says obstructive sleep apnea, typically a person is going to be treated with a CPAP machine because it's just so effective and it's noninvasive. But in milder cases, there could be a dental appliance used, or other options. Your physician might suggest that generally it's going to be a CPAP machine if it's obstructive apnea, if it's, if it's narcolepsy, there's medication. If it's parasomnia or other, types of disorders, there can be some, behavioral therapy as well.

Deborah Howell: Is there a peek into the future past the CPAP mask? Is there something on the horizon?

Tamara Godfrey: Not to my knowledge. The CPAP mask is, so effective and so noninvasive that instead of really trying to find a new way, they what they're doing is finding more comfortable, lighter, easy to use mask and more quieter machines.

Deborah Howell: Okay, that's fair enough. So where can our listeners learn more about the Sleep Disorders Center at Long Beach Memorial?

Tamara Godfrey: Well, we have, two locations for our patients. We have one in Los Alamitos and one right here across from the hospital. And our number to call for either is (562) 933-8645.

Deborah Howell: One more time.

Tamara Godfrey: Nine I'm sorry, (562) 933-8645.

Deborah Howell: Beautiful. You should go into radio. Thank you so much, Tamara, for finding the time to talk to us today about Sleep Disorders Center at Long Beach Memorial, some of the sleeping problems, and maybe a little glimpse into the future of smaller masks. It's been a real pleasure to have you on the show.

Tamara Godfrey: It's been my pleasure. Thanks, Deborah.

Deborah Howell: We wish you a truly good life on this day and every day to come in a good night's sleep as well. To all, I'm Deborah Howell. Join us again next time as we explore another weekly dose of wellness, brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. Have yourself a wonderful, wonderful day.